in which I review books and ponder bookology (and write about other things too)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

history versus story

As I approach the end of my MA, I start to wonder about what it will be like when I have the time and energy to write fiction again.

I've been writing history for so long now that I suspect it has completely changed the way I approach creative writing. Maybe in some ways for the better. I've had to learn to be more concise. But I definitely think my writing will be a lot more ... dry at first. I try to write history in an attractive way, but I definitely have an academic style, and it will be strange to start breaking rules again. I just hope I can overcome what has been drummed into me by academics for the past six years.

But something that I will be fascinated to find out is whether doing a MA will have helped me overcome my aversion to writing an extended piece of work. I've planned, and planned, and planned. I've researched. I've rewritten. I've learned the value of simply trying to get an idea down, without worrying too much about the prose at first. And I will come out at the end of it all with a piece of writing that is over 50,000 words long - longer than any original writing I've ever done before.

Is it different, though? A thesis has the benefit of being based around facts, and so all your material is there to work with. It has the difficulty that if something isn't working in the way you structure it, you still need to base it around those facts. Writing a novel, on the other hand, has the benefit that you are the Boss. If things aren't working - you make something up. Its difficulty, however, is that everything in it is supposed to magically appear from your imagination. And what if I find that all my hard work has been completely useless when it comes to sitting down and trying to write a novel?

Books read, 2014

1. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen2. Five Little Pigs, by Agatha Christie3. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith4. The Man in the Brown Suit, by Agatha Christie5. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, by Helen Fielding6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie7. A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis, by Eugene Bardach8. Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh9. The Watsons & Emma Watson, by Jane Austen and Joan Aiken10. Evil Under the Sun, by Agatha Christie11. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho12. Love in a Cold Climate, by Nancy Mitford13. The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy14. A Three-Pipe Problem, by Julian Symons15. Cotillion, by Georgette Heyer16. A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby17. Sight Reading, by Daphne Kalotay18. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen19. Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer20. Cousin Kate, by Georgette Heyer21. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson22. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis23. The Guernsey Literary and Potato-Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer24. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 1), by George R. R. Martin25. God in a Brothel, by Daniel Walker26. Yes Please, by Amy Poehler

Books read, 2015

1. Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham2. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy3. That Hideous Strength, by C. S. Lewis